March 1, 2012

Since county officials began questioning firefighters’ use of sick leave two years ago, sick-leave requests in the Clark County Fire Department have fallen by 57,000 hours.

A report by county administration obtained by the Sun finds that within those 57,000 hours, battalion chiefs’ sick leave fell from an average of 164 hours a year two years ago to about 16 hours last year, a 90 percent decline.

For rank-and-file firefighters, the average hours of sick leave taken fell from 227 hours two years ago to 136 hours last year, a 40 percent drop. (Emphasis added)

A 90 percent decline in sick leave in just two years. That's incredible.

The county has saved millions of dollars as a result of the drop-off.

As we've written about before, efforts to stop sick leave abuse at the Clark County Fire Department can only occur when politicians, the media and the public all start shining a light where none previously was. Kudos to Commissioner Sisolak and the Sun for bringing this issue to the public's attention.